Two arrested for vandalism of former camp

Posted: Wednesday, October 11, 2000

JOCHEN WIESIGELThe Associated Press

ERFURT, Germany - Two men with neo-Nazi connections confessed to vandalizing the former Buchenwald concentration camp on the eve of Germany's reunification celebrations, a state interior minister said Tuesday.

Christian Koeckert, interior minister of eastern Thuringia state, said he hoped to bring the suspects, ages 20 and 22, to trial this week on charges of damaging property and displaying Nazi symbols. Their names were not released.

Two stones thrown at an exhibition pavilion at Buchenwald, just outside the town of Weimar, damaged the security glass on Oct. 2, the eve of the 10th anniversary of Germany's reunification. Swastikas were painted on wooden plaques and a memorial stone honoring a French officer.

The two suspects, both admitted extreme right-wingers from Thuringia, were arrested in northern Schleswig-Holstein state.

About 56,000 people died at Buchenwald between 1937 and 1945, including at least 11,000 Jews. The Nazi camp held 263,000 prisoners from more than 30 countries. Today, like other former concentration camps in Germany, Buchenwald is a memorial with a museum telling its history.

Also Tuesday, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder voiced support for a proposed ban on the extreme-right National Democratic Party, which has been accused of fueling hatred that has contributed to neo-Nazi violence.

Interior Minister Otto Schily said Monday there is enough evidence against the party to ask the country's top court to declare it unconstitutional.